Donations

Members of our Foundation Board greatly enjoyed visiting with Library supporters from all over the community at the El Cerrito July 4 One World Celebration yesterday.

At the same time we had an opportunity to introduce our latest project to support our Library and make the experience of visiting the El Cerrito Library more pleasant.

The Reader Chair Endowment Campaign offers members of our community a great way to recognize and honor friends, relatives, and other people whom they wish to thank.

By supporting the renewing of one of the 60+ reader chairs in the current library and placing a dedicatory plaque on each restored chair, this campaign seeks to accomplish two important goals at once: 1) To make using the Library more comfortable, sanitary, and enjoyable for all, and 2) to allow any of us to honor the memory of a loved one or to say “thank you” to someone who has served our community or helped us in other ways. Or we can simply “endow” a chair.

As far as we can tell, the reader chairs in the Library have not been refurbished for over 20 years. They are sturdy but quite uncomfortable to sit in for any length of time. Since it will be a while before we get a new library, we have designed this project to improve our Library immediately.

We are committed to the proposition that an excellent community library with a full array of the latest materials and compelling programs cannot be supported with public funding alone.

Today we mailed to our supporters a full description of the Reader Chair Project, a return envelope and a form for dedicating or naming one or more chairs. We hope you will consider making a tax deductible contribution that will greatly improve our library.

With your continued support we will make a new, modern, safe El Cerrito library a reality in the not too distant future and make using our current library more pleasant and comfortable in the meanwhile.

All of us are greatly disappointed that the voters of El Cerrito failed to give the required 2/3rds approval to library bond measure B on the November 8 ballot. Even though over 62% of voters agreed that we need a new library, the vote was just under 500 votes short of authorizing a bond sale.

Despite this setback the El Cerrito Library Foundation is committed to continuing our work to build support for a library appropriate for the 21st century needs of El Cerrito. Now, the City will have to develop a new strategy for reaching the goal we all share: A fully accessible, earthquake safe, and large enough library to serve all of our community’s life-long learning needs.

In our work over the years we have succeeded in raising almost $250,000 to help provide the new library with the materials and equipment that cannot be purchased with bond proceeds or other public money. This is a good start, but not enough to do all that needs to be done.

We are committed to the proposition that an excellent community library with a full array of the latest materials and compelling programs cannot be supported with public funding alone.

Your gift, no matter the size, will help us to sustain this vision and advocate for a new El Cerrito library. Please show your support by making a tax-deductible contribution at https://eclibraryfoundation.org/how-to-donate/. The El Cerrito Library Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. Our tax ID # is: 47-1112720. Donations deductible to the extent allowed by law.

With your continued support we will make a new El Cerrito library a reality in the not too distant future.

Thank you again for supporting our library and the people of all ages who use it.